JOLIET – Lockport dominated the IHSA Lockport sectional on Friday, as the Porters rolled a 12-game total of 6,332, winning by 660 pins over Oswego (5,672). The Porters bowled all six games over 1,000 as the other 11 teams only combined for two games over 1,000.

It was Lockport’s ninth consecutive sectional title and the first for coach Linda Siezega. The Porters are defending state champions from 2020, as no state tournament was held last year due to COVID-19.

The event was originally to be held at Strike & Spare Lanes in Lockport on Saturday, but a scheduling conflict forced the change to Town & Country Lanes along with the day.

Joining Lockport and Oswego in qualifying for next weekend’s state finals at Cherry Bowl in Rockford, will be Stagg (5,547) and Shepard (5,466). Lincoln-Way East finished sixth, followed by Plainfield East in eighth and Plainfield Central in 11th.

The Lockport dominance also showed in the individual placing as the Porters had four of the top five overall bowlers and were led by individual champion senior Demi Kontos, who rolled a six-game total of 1,325. Senior Isabella Colon was third (1,280), sophomore Paige Matiasek was fourth (1,278) and senior Emma Punter was fifth (1,262). The Porters’ fifth bowler, junior Morgan LiCausi placed 11th.

“I have never won a high school tournament in my life,” Kontos, said when she found out she had won. “This is my real first year of bowling and I never have bowled at a sectional before, so I’m a little speechless right now. We had a terrible week of practice when we came over here [Town & Country] this week, but we all have a lot of faith and trust in each other on the team and it really showed today. To bowl over 1,000 for every game is amazing and now we know we can do it next week.”

Siezega had nothing but praise for her team’s performance.

“This feels amazing and it is the best we have bowled all season,” Siezega said. “We really haven’t bowled up to our potential this season and we have talked about ways to start well and today they came out and did what they are capable of doing. They started really well and never let up which was so great to see. This is such a huge confidence booster going to the state finals and now, they have confidence in themselves and in each other.”

The top five individuals, not on a qualifying team, also advanced to the state finals and that group was led by senior Hailey Bozych from Plainfield East, who finished second overall with 1,295. Bozych will be making her second trip to the finals, as she qualified as a sophomore.

“This feels great and I’m so excited to be going back,” Bozych said. “I will take the experience from my sophomore year and what I learned, that you cannot get down on yourself at any time over the two days. You just have to bowl one game at a time, lay it all on the line and not let things get in your head.”

Also qualifying was senior Grace Dillingham from Plainfield Central, as she placed ninth overall and junior Amanda Martineck from Lincoln-Way East in 10th.